Number 10: 'Ridiculous' claims from Sean Spicer 'will not be repeated'

The British government had already debunked this claim, but Sean Spicer still trusted Fox News over the government of an ally.

"We have made this clear to the administration and have received assurances that these allegations will not be repeated", the PM's spokesperson said. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on Fox. "And so you shouldn't be talking to me, you should be talking to Fox", he said.

Theresa May's spokesman said this morning that the Government had raised objections directly with the USA administration.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer repeated a Fox News commentator's claim that Brit ish intelligence helped Barack Obama wiretap President Trump. "I just want people to know, the Central Intelligence Agency was hacked, and a lot of things taken - that was during the Obama years", Trump said.

He then read a full version of the "wiretapping" case, citing the various mainstream media reports describing surveillance of Trump Tower and of individuals close to the Trump campaign.

Spicer repeated Napolitano's allegation for the same reason Napolitano made it: to defend Trump's evidence-free assertion, on 4 March, that Obama had Trump's team placed under surveillance.

It said: "Recent allegations made by media commentator judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct "wiretapping" against the then president-elect are nonsense". "Fox News can not confirm Judge Napolitano's commentary", the anchor Shepard Smith said on air.

Mr. Trump had accused former USA president Barack Obama on March 4 of a wiretapping plot that would nearly certainly be against United States law.

And on Friday Fox News anchor Shepard Smith said Fox News "no evidence" that the president was surveilled and can not confirm Fox News analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano's "commentary" about the British spy agency. Both Sir Kim and Sir Mark had backed GCHQ's statement, which described the allegations as "utterly ridiculous".

"Look, they're allowed to believe what they believe", Cole said of the White House's refusal to back down.

Trump had revved up his "this is what I was told" responsibility-ducking technique when asked about his claims that Obama asked British intelligence to spy on him during the election.